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zaterdag 17 november 2018

Waves EP. Jeditah

More and more female singers enter the music markets with electronic albums under their arms. Waves is such an EP. Five songs full with mild beats, and loads of synthesizers. Jeditah sings over it all with a thin, childlike voice. A far descendent from Kate Bush on her first three albums with totally different music. At least on first hearing. Believe me this changes fast and I'll explain why.

Jeditah is Jeditah van der Meulen from Amsterdam. For Waves she took existing songs and started to dissect them before building them up again in a totally new way. The result is a fairytale like quality. A kind of nether world in which music floats as light as air. Stirred softly by a breeze of air from the air escaping while singing. It is here I'm reminded of Kate Bush of 1978-1979. Jeditah plays with the ears of the listener in a similar way. The use of a cello, played by Brendan Jan Walsh, only underscores this feeling.

Similarities stop here, as the music itself is radically different. Just listen to the song with the title 'Differently'. This is not easy music to digest. Rhythms are not in sight in a usual way. The music is fragmentary. The vocals not easy to reproduce. 'Horseman' only takes this view further. Yet, Kate Bush does come back to me. In songs on her fourth album, like 'Suspended In Jaffa' Kate played with the forms of her music, leaving pop far behind. 'Horseman' is such a song that meanders between pop, the golden throated chorus certainly is just that, and a song that is difficult to follow and understand. More intriguing than beautiful and in comes this chorus. Puzzling 'Horseman' is, yet pleasing.

On Waves Jeditah is not afraid to confront her listeners and challenge them. By changing rhythms, accompaniment and melodies, the listener has a fine choice: to follow or to be left behind. The latter is the loser as Jeditah does know how to please. The final song 'Beth' seems to combine the best of her two worlds, the slightly more pop infused start of the album and the more difficult middle. 'Beth' combines them in a perfect way.

The mystery is always there though and that to me is the overarching theme of Waves. The listener is invited to join Jeditah on a journey through a musical wonderland. The time to step on board is now.